In the area of the distribution of electrical energy, one commonly uses electrical cut-off devices such as fused switches, fused isolating switches or similar, single-phase or multi-phase, in order to protect the electrical power supply of the industrial equipment located downstream of these cut-off devices. There are two architecture types. The fuse is located downstream of the switch, which is a single cut-off switch. The main disadvantage of this architecture lies in the fact that the access to the fuse is not protected, and that nothing prevents an operator from accessing the fuse when the switch is in the closed position, that is to say when the electrical circuit is closed. Furthermore, a voltage backfeed due to the load always remains possible, since no protection prevents it.
Another safer architecture provides mounting the fuse between the two cut-offs, which requires another switch type, i.e. a double cut-off switch, such as for example in publication FR 2 890 781 by the applicant. In this architecture, the fuse is totally isolated when the switch is in the open position, i.e. when the electrical circuit is open, thus protecting the operator. Nevertheless, the constraint of having to provide a double cut-off requires a high operating effort, implying a suitable actuation mechanism whose dimensions and production cost are higher than for a single cut-off. This kind of architecture is also illustrated in publications WO 01/08180 and DE 196 00 413, which describe fused isolating switches wherein the electrical cut-off performed at the level of the fuse is not visible and is not dissociated from the electrical contacts of the switch.
Furthermore, the switch-off devices have ratings that can vary from some ten to some hundred amperes and are thus provided with fuses whose size is chosen according to the rating of the device and of the national and/or international standards in force. Each fuse format distinguishes itself by its dimensions, the shape of its connection areas and its connection mode. There are therefore, for every fuse format, specific support elements for each cut-off device type, which makes the management of these multiple references complicated and costly. Publication FR 2 890 781 by the applicant offers an electrical cut-off device whose box is designed specially to house fuses with different formats, wherein this box has no visible cut-off and the fuses are not integrated in a removable cartridge.